A few notes on our daily activites

A random listing of activities and observations:

- It is 37.6 degree C at the moment, Friday noon. Figure that out in degrees F.

- We had Nigerian fast food last night, from a lady down the hill on a corner, cooked on a small wood fire. We had rice cakes, fluffy, ultra thick pancake-like things, no evidence of the rice grain left, a bit sweet and nicely oily. We had bean pucks, for lack of a better word, similar to a hushpuppy or donut hole, made from a bean something like black eyed peas. Good. We had a small cup of hot stew, or sauce, in which one could dip the bean or rice dish. We had something called avocado pear, an oblong fruit which had been boiled lightly, and which had a large seed. You kind of sucked the flesh, 3/8" thick, off the seed. Interesting... For dessert we had vanilla ice cream with your choice of fresh pineapple, banana, maraschino cherries, and Nutella. Very good all around.

- Wednesday night we had an outstanding storm - wind, rain, very loud thunder and bright lightning. Fun. We have a back screened patio at the Abuja house, where it is nice to sit and visit or read. Or to watch a storm, which on Wednesday, came from behind us. The wind picked up, the trees swayed, the flowers on the flowering trees flew around, and the rain began. It was heavy enough at times to wooosch around the corners of the building in sprays, and kept up for perhaps 20 minutes. The temp dropped 31 degree F, from near 100 to below 70F. Great time.

- Mary Ann and Miriam have been doing the market runs. Most food is sold by small shop owners who either grew it or know the person who did. One staple is the yam, a large (~5 lb.) root crop. It is different than a sweet potato, which is also popular. The yam is very similar to potato in texture, with a bit more flavor and no sweetness. We have seen the little transportation vans full to the roof with yams, so full they are sticking out the windows, on the road. Very little in imported foods; though they are available, they don't make up any appreciable part of the diet. Lots of fruit, lots of starchy vegetables, some greens usually intended to be cooked, rather than eaten raw. However, tomatoes and cucumbers work fine for a fresh salad. Let's see - fruit: pineapple, orange, lemon, avocado, bananas (the best you've ever had), mango, papaya (sometimes called paw paw), apples, watermelons, grapes, honeydew melons, strawberries. Vegetables: onions, potato, yams, cassava (Wikipedia it), sweet potato, plantain (a type of unsweet banana), various greens to be cooked, garlic, lots of hot and mild peppers. Milk and milk products are not really common, because of cost and spoilage, but a drinkable yoghurt is very popular and very good, and can be used in many ways where you might normally use milk, and it keeps much longer. Great with cereal, cookies, on salad, and so on. Protein is mostly from fish, goat, and chicken. It is relatively expensive in the grand scheme of things, so it is incorporated into stews and sauces, and actually the quantities most people get is perfectly adequate. Beef is curious - available, but range fed, so it is a "manly meat", no melt-in-your-mouth steak. We had steak one night, though, raised specifically for local steak houses, and it was very good.

- The man came to mow the lawn yesterday. The lawn is green and growing, the result of the rainy season.

- There is a songbird here we hear each morning and evening, which has an amazing repertoire. Best described as variations on a theme, somewhat Philip Glass-like. Repeating end phrase of 3-5 notes, then starts over with a slight variation or different key, ending with the same 3-5 notes. I love it.

The advent of the cell phone has changed the place. All phones are prepay format, and very reasonable. Recharge cards available everywhere, in large and small denominations. Four or five carriers, and phones are not tied to a particular carrier.

- Bottled water is readily available, and tap water in many cities is perfectly safe and tastes great. Bottled water comes in a variety of containers, from a heat sealed poly bag of perhaps 12 oz. (you tear off a corner and pour it into your mouth), to 20 oz "pop bottles" to 5 gallon carboys for in the home. People drink a lot of water, and a lot less soda/pop. Lots of fruit juice, and some beer and wine. Almost no one smokes.

That's enough.

We are enjoying our stay. A couple activities lined up - a man in the area wants to talk to me about methanol as a fuel for transportation, another will stop tonight for an introduction to his new computer, which we brought from the US, and next Tuesday / Wednesday we all will make a trip to Katsina in the north to look at Neem tree projects. So it is quite an experience, one we will not forget.

Love, Mary Ann and Jim